Xinjiang may pass own laws to combat terrorists

Officials in the restive Xinjiang region may enact new counter-terrorism laws, which experts said could put more emphasis on authorising preventive measures than existing national laws do.

Xinjiang legislative official Bo Xiao said the government was looking at possible legislation, reported yesterday.

"The legislation is in the second phase of this year's legislative work plan, which means it is under discussion regarding feasibility and impact," Bo, the director of Xinjiang's legislative affairs commission, was cited by the newspaper as saying.

Bo said it was difficult to predict when the draft would be finalised, and it could take several years, but work was planned to start this year, the paper said.

The decision on the draft law was made following a string of incidents that saw more than 100 people killed over the past year.

Li Wei, an anti-terrorism expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that as an autonomous region, Xinjiang had the right to draft a regional law to solve pressing local problems.

"Xinjiang's regional anti-terrorism [legislation] will not conflict with the national Criminal Law, which focuses on different levels of punishment" as deterrents, Li said.